Novartis Defends Stance on Patents

a Wall Street Journal Staff Reporter

Updated Feb. 16, 2007 12:01 a.m. ET

Novartis AG defended its stance on drug patents as a court case began in India, saying tighter intellectual-property laws would spur investment in new medicines. India is a source of inexpensive generic medicines, but the Swiss pharmaceuticals company is challenging an Indian law that blocks the patenting of minor improvements in known molecules. Novartis is also challenging a January decision to reject its patent application in India for cancer drug Glivec, known in the U.S. as Gleevec, that was turned down because it was for a new form of a known...